Thursday, March 15, 2012

Caring or Fun? Both!!


When Number 1 came home from school with grand aspirations of starting a club, I grinned from ear to ear.  Obviously the delight did not come from how much work that this project was going to involve on my part, that realization was not lost on me, but because of my pride in my little protégé.  I, too, had a very successful club in elementary school; that I started all by myself.  I, of course, was the president.  I, of course, always got to sit in the cool rocking chair.  My throne did become a bit of an issue that, I believe, we may have had to vote on at one point.  I won.  I got to pick our order of business and our outings.  It was super awesome fun!!   And, I expect, if you ask any of my subordinates, you will find that they agree and have very fond memories of our little club.  We even made neon-colored plastic visors (it WAS the 80s!) with the initials of our club’s name written in puffy paint.  Everywhere we went as a club we wore our very trendy visors.  It was our equivalent of a Girl Scout vest.  Our mission statement?  We didn’t have one, but in hindsight, I would have to say that it was nothing more than…to have fun.  The name you ask???  The GJWHF Club.  And that is what we would have told you if you asked.  “The GJWHF Club.”  It still rolls off my tongue like a song. 

Our moms were very accommodating.  My mom let me host the club every time; it was, afterall, my fault the other moms were in this mess.  They came along very willingly to our outings.  I have no idea what this club was to them. Now that I am a Truthful Mommy, I can only imagine that to some of them it was quite a bother.  But to most it was probably a time to catch up with each other, and probably gossip.  Just a way to pat us on the head and say, “I am glad you are having fun, dear.”  But to me, it was HUGE…Really Big!  

I began to ask Number 1 about her plans for her new club.  I began to ask her…only after I finished telling her all about my very successful GJWHF Club.  My abounding pride in this elementary school enterprise was perplexing.  Still is.  But apparently this little club did something for me.  To this day I am always looking for a way to have some committed, routine socialization.  Just since I married The Husband, I have started a monthly GNO (Girls Night Out, I love to abbreviate) for my neighborhood girls, a Bunco Group, a Bible Study in my house and have taken on the roll of social planner for my Life Class at church.  I recently started a Dinner Club that is SUPER fun and, yes, you guessed it, successful.  We have a blast.  And eat really really great.  All of these are still going strong, except the Bunco Group.  But even that was a success, because I came out of that with a few of the best girls a Truthful Mommy could know.  And one thing I know for sure, I cannot live without a TRUE, good friend…or several!!  I mean, I write a Truthful Mommy blog, the friends still hanging around have to be real at this point! 

I did find a few differing themes between Number 1 and me after hearing her strategy.  The name of her club?  The Caring Crocs Club.  Why Caring?   Because she wants to do things to help raise money for people that don’t have enough food.  The name of my club?  The Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Club.  (STOP IT!..... Cyndi Lauper was far-out)   Why?  Cause we just wanted to have fun.  Period.  No raising money for others, no thinking about others.  So, the only thing I can figure is she gets her social aspirations from her momma and her tender heart from her daddy.  Whatever, I am still grinning from ear to ear with pride!

After being able to be on the Mommy side of this thing, I have done some analyzing of my own elementary school organized club experience.   I have ZERO time left in my life to develop another GJWHF Club, much less with the addition of values, morals and a mission.  But now that I am able to have some vision on the impact it has very probably had on who I am today,  I feel the only choice I have is to nurture this thing!  She told me again tonight that she was going to be needing my help this weekend with the invitations.   Oh joy.  I do love stationery.  But that is a whole nother blog!

1 comment:

  1. Get her together with Peyton. She came up with this whole thing, created her own flyers and went around collecting money from everyone to help save the tigers and the deer :). People actually gave her money too. She just asked for pennies because she said people might not want to give real money : ). Now we have a bunch of change and I have no idea who to send it to. It's just funny that she has this save the deer thing and my dad is an AVID hunter! I told her she had to give it to the charity that her Y Princess club supports. Chloe is awesome! And she got an awesome mama!

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